After the close encounter with Arthur, Morgana and I agree that we must be more careful with our meetings, and it works to an extent. No one has caught us using magic yet, although there have been a few close calls. I was currently in the middle of one such moment as a guard stopped me on my way to Morgana's chambers.
"What is you business on this side of the castle?" He asked gruffly. I stuttered with my words as I tried to give an excuse.
"I, uh. I have a, uh, sleeping draught for the Lady Morgana…uh, sir." I fumbled in the pouch at my waist until I pulled out the tiny vial I always carried with me now. I desperately tried to keep the book I had hidden against my back from fallen out of its hiding place as I handed the vial over for the guard's inspection. He glanced at it then waved his hand.
"I believe you. You had better hurry up then and do your job before Arthur decides to give you more chores!" He said laughing and I pursed my lips. It seems Arthur's reputation for mistreating his servants had spread. Although he had seemed nice enough the last time he caught me and Morgana together, but I didn't say any of that of course.
"Of course sir." I said hastily, and stepped around him. I had only gone about two steps before the book I had managed to keep hidden fell out from beneath my clothes and landed on the floor. It landed face down and I winced as the bang echoed around the hall. The guard turned back.
"What's that?" He asked, gesturing to the book on the floor but making no move to pick it up. "Why were you trying to hide it?" He asked suspiciously. I thought quickly and then hung my head like I was ashamed.
"Prince Arthur doesn't like me reading sir. He thinks it's a waste of time that I should be using cleaning out the stables." There was a pause and I tensed as I waited for the guard's response.
"Don't tell him I said so, but I think he is wrong. I think it is a good idea to maintain your literary skills, if you have them. As long as it's in your own time of course." I looked up at him, surprised that he would take my side against that of the Prince.
"Really?" I asked intrigued.
"Really. But if you tried to tell him I said so, I will deny it and have you put in the stocks." The tone was light and joking but I still couldn't be sure if it was a serious threat or not.
"Of course sir." I repeated and picked up the magic book hastily, making sure that the guard didn't see the cover. I turned around and kept walking quickly to Morgana's chambers.
"What took you so long?" Morgana asked agitatedly. I made an apologetic gesture and sat down wearily.
"Sorry, there was a little incident with a guard." I told her sheepishly. Morgana rolled her eyes.
"Should have known." I laughed at her statement and beckoned for her to join me at the table. I grabbed her hands in mine as soon as she sat down, with a smile still lingering on my face. I pulled one hand free so I could sit the magic book on the table and flick through it. I came to a spell and laughed at the irony.
"This one is perfect for you." I said dryly and turned the book around so she could see it. The spell was designed to put out fires, magical or otherwise. I had actually used it during one of our lessons, but hadn't thought to teach it to Morgana. Morgana's happy expression faltered for a second and I silently berated myself. Why did I say that? That fire in her room terrified her.
"I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. We'll try something else." I said hastily, trying to grab the book back of her. She held onto it firmly.
"No it's fine." She said, the smile back in place, though it didn't reach her eyes. "And you're right, it's perfect for me." She leaned over the book to read the spell, trying to memorize it to heart. I couldn't help noticing how her silky black tresses framed her face and tumbled over her shoulder. Nor could I look away from her perfect face, full red lips, and beautiful emerald eyes, contrasting perfectly with her pale skin. I so desperately wanted to kiss that skin, and those lips… My hand twitched with the urge to touch her cheek but I restrained the desire. Morgana needed to concentrate right now and that certainly wouldn't help. I saw her lips twitch as she tried to hold back a smile.
"You're staring Merlin." She said, still not looking up. She seemed to find it harder to keep in her smile now, and she bit her lip. Didn't she realize how attractive it was? Didn't she realize that she was driving me mad?
"Merlin." She repeated, looking up now. I realized that I was still staring and looked away, focusing on the book with great intensity.
"Have you got it?" I asked, still staring at the book. Morgana chuckled before answering.
"Yes Merlin. You can look at me again." She said, amused. I eagerly let my gaze wander back to her and her eyes twinkled with amusement. She waved her hand over the candle, whispering 'forebearnan' before concentrating. She stared at the candle and held her hand directly above it, just far enough away so as not to be burnt.
"Ácwencan." She said, with perfect pronunciation and her voice resonating with power. The fire went out. I looked at her in amazement, before switching my gaze back to the candle and back to her again.
"Wow. First try. Impressive." I was about to say more when I realized there was someone in the room gasping. It wasn't Morgana and so I turned around and searched for source of the noise. I finally spotted Gwen standing in the corner, a tray of food clenched so tightly in her hand that her knuckles had turned white. Her face was almost the same colour, pale and scared. It took me a moment to realize why she had that expression on her face. She must have seen Morgana to do magic! I looked back at Morgana and her expression matched how mine felt. I still hadn't confronted Gwen about the time she had seen me do magic but I knew she hadn't told anyone considering I was still alive.
"Gwen." I said quietly, reassuringly. "We aren't going to hurt you." Gwen's eyes flickered to me for a second before switching back to Morgana. She finally seemed to get the strength to speak.
"You have magic." She whispered, lip trembling as she stared at Morgana. "All these years, and you never told me." She broke out into sobs; shock, hurt and fear all coming together to make her collapse onto her knees. Morgana and I were at her side instantly, arms wrapped around her, trying to comfort her. She flinched away from our comforting hands and pushed herself backwards, away from us. I could see Morgana was hurt by her friend's reaction but tried not to show it.
"I'm sorry Gwen." She said, her voice breaking.
"We are still the same people we were before. You can still trust us." I added.
"How can I be sure of that Merlin? You are the same as the first day you came here, and that is why I haven't told Arthur. Yet." She turned to Morgana in fear. "But you aren't Morgana. You used to be the kindest, most loving person I knew, and now you are cruel and cold. At least I know why now." She whispered, a fresh flood of tears running down her face. Morgana's face was agonized.
"I'm am so sorry. I really am. I was scared Gwen, and I took the only path I could see at the time." Gwen looked like she was about to say something but Morgana continued before she could. "But then Merlin brought me back. He showed me the wrong in my actions and I see now just how foolish I was being. You can't understand how much I regret everything." She cried. I realized how similar these words were to the false lies she told me when she first came back to Camelot and I realized how much more genuine she sounded now. I couldn't believe I had fallen for her lies in the first place. Gwen looked at Morgana, fear warring with her instincts. Past experiences have taught her that magic is something to be feared, while her heart knew that Morgana was telling the truth. I decided to go one step further and dropped the bomb.
"I poisoned Morgana, Gwen. I poisoned her and she was still willing to forgive me… After a little prodding of course." Gwen looked at me sharply.
"Why did you poison her?" She asked angrily, forgetting her fear for a moment, in favor of protecting Morgana.
"Morgause put an enchantment on me which allowed the knights of Medhir to live." She explained, ignoring my urgent gestures for her to stop. "I didn't realize I was the source, but Merlin did and poisoned me to rid Camelot of the knights. Another thing he has done for everyone here. If you can't trust me, then at least trust Merlin. He has saved you all more times than you can count."
"And Morgana has helped me many times as well, with her visions, or by helping us fight."
I looked at Gwen, again fighting to decide what she should do. If she should go to Arthur, or if she should trust us. She closed her eyes for a few minutes and when she opened her eyes again, I could see she had made a decision. I waited anxiously for her to speak.
"Very well." She said wearily. "I remember how you were when I first met you Morgana, and I remember how you were after you were brought back to Camelot. I look at you now and I see a small part of you that is still that angry and bitter person, but the larger part is the Morgana I know and love. I can't hand you in if you are still that person, magic or not." She stood up, and held her head up, looking every bit like royalty. "I will keep your secret Morgana, and yours Merlin, on one condition." We looked at her eagerly and nodded fervently.
"Anything. You're my best friend Gwen." Although I knew this, I couldn't help flinching as I thought about Morgana liking Gwen more than me. Gwen looked at us both in the eyes.
"You will have to tell Arthur sometime soon. I will not lie to him forever." Morgana hesitated but nodded. I shrugged.
"Well, I was planning on saving him anyway. There wouldn't have been any point in saving his worthless backside so many times if I wasn't." I said cheekily, lightening the mood. Both girls laughed for a second before Gwen sighed.
"I'll go now. I'm sure you have work to do." Gwen said tensely, as she gestured towards the book and candle on the table.
'Oh, right. I really am sorry." Morgana said, hurrying over to the table to get rid of both objects.
"I believe you." Gwen said, before stepping out of the room.
Hmm, I was planning on doing something different for this chapter and then I got a review telling me that I hadn't showed Gwen's reaction to Merlin's magic yet. And I thought, "That is so true! I should probably do that, and why not chuck in a reveal about Morgana's magic too, just to make things even more angsty?" Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please keep reading, oh and reviewing too. If you feel like it…